Pipe line swivel joint



Aug. 13, 1935. R. P. PARADISE V PIPE LINE SWIVEL JOINT Filed July 12,1953 Inventor, Raymond P Paradis e,

Abtormgs.

Patented Aug. 13, 1935 T -D1 TAT-E1 PATENT OFFICE This. inventionrelates to the'art of: swivel i joints and particularly to a swivel.joint in apipe line which is oscillated from time to'time, such forexample as in over headirrigation practice where jets or sprays of wateraredesired to be i directed over a wide area'of ground; A primary.

object of my inventionis toprovide' aswiveljoint without the customarypacking glands and without, compression fittings whereby the pipe line.niaybe oscillated without the friction resistance ordinarily set up bythe hereto-fore employed packing means, the joint beingself-sealing andrequiring no adjustments from time to time as has been the caseheretofore when packing glands 'A futher primary were employed; I iobject of the invention is to provide a swivel jointnot only withoutcompression packing glands but also to provide ajoint' which will havesufficient bearing area to maintain the relative parts in alignment sothat there will not be any binding action set up after use in i service.A further important advantage of. the

invention is that the member employed to prevent leakage may be. quicklyand readily replaced and i may be obtained commerciallyiwithout. undueex- 4 pense. A still further important advantage of the the numeral athreadedly enteredin the bore of a member ll, hereinafter designated asa head. This head invention is that this particular member employed toprevent leakage may be removed when wornand replaced by a new onewithout any particular skill being required. A further advantage" of theinvention is to be found iri the fact that the member employed toprevent leakage automatically stops leakage by reasonv of pressure inthe line being exerted thereagainst, regardless of the pressureemployed.

. V These and other advantages and objects will becomeapparent to thoseversed in the art in the ",following description of one .partieularform' of the invention as illustrated by the accompanying.

drawing, in which Fig. lis a side elevation of a structure embodying myinvention; I

I Fig. 2, an end elevation;

Fig. 3, a fragmentary opposite end elevation;

. Fig. 4, a vertical longitudinal section through thefdevicaand i ,1

Fig.5, a transverse verticalsection on the line 5 5inFig.4. f

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the severalviews in the drawing;

, Referring to the drawing, the line to be 'oscil lated about A l a l0,oneend of which line'i's screwits longitudinal axis. is indicated by isdrawn up on the end of the pipe in so that when the head H isrevolved,the pipe I0 is likewise'revolved, the two moving in unison. The

head I I is provided with an annularly projecting pipe ID. This cupleather [2 has its outwardly extending edge feathered out to leave asharp edge at its junction with the outer periphery thereof. The outerformation of the cup leather I2 is that employed in ordinary water pumpsof commerce and may in fact be obtained commercially on the market, theproportions of my structure being arranged to utilizecommercial sizes ofthe leather.

A fitting l4, hereinafter termed a stationary head as opposed to theshiftable head II, has a central longitudinal bore therethrough intowhich is screw-threadedly entered the end of the stationary part of thesupply line 15, the stationary head 14 being screwed ,up on the pipe endsuihciently so as to retain it rigidly, in a fixed position thereon. Theface of the head is com-- ter-bored to provide therein a cylinder ofshort length, atleast sufiicient to receive therein the cup leather 12with slight longitudinal clearance, thereof. Theiace of the stationaryhead i4 is brought up again into sliding contact with the opposing faceof the shiftable head II to have.

the periphery of the contacting face of the head M slidably engagedwithinthe annular flange above referred to as projecting from theshiftable. head II, The diameter of the cylinder in the stationary head14 is made to receive the cup leather, [2 therein with a sliding fit sothat the leather may be free to be revolved therewithinq The stationaryhead [4 has a length thereof, reduced indiameter as compared to thatportion lying within the flange on the head H and a retaining nut I6 isslidably fitted over this reduced portion of the head M andscrew-threadedly engaged about the periphery of the flange on the headll, Fig. 4, whereby the head I4 is axially aligned centrally of the axisof the head I I and the parts engaged thereto and also such that thehead I I aridthe nut l6 then engaged thereto may be revolved freelyaround the stationary head l4. The rear side of that portion of the head[4 which carries the face that is in contact with the head II is of thatthickness whereby when the nut 16 is seated against the flange on head Hand preferably has an internal bore it- 1 self at least equivalent tothat of the bore of the fore-also inthe line if) is under pressure andthis head i l.

the head ii, there is suificient clearance between the head i l and thenut 6 to permit the oscillation of those parts about the annularlyprojecting part of the head it therebetween to remain stationary andserve as means for preventing the longitudinal movement of the head Haway from the head [4, the thrust between the supplying line i5 and thedistributing line it being thus taken by these members. Vertical load istaken on the bearing provided by the horizontally extending portion ofthe fixed head l4 and the bore of the retaining nut it fittingtherearound. The shiftable head it is here shown as being provided witha handle ll extending downwardly therefrom as a means for rotating thehead II and the pipe line ll] engaging the head. To provide ample meansfor lubricating the moving parts, particularly where the longitudinalthrust comes, the annularly projecting portion of the stationary head itwhich extends between the shiftable head i i and the retaining nut l 6is here shown as being provided with a plurality of holes it coredtherethrough into which grease may be forced through the fitting E9, thegrease thus being carried about the bearing surfaces as the head ii andthe retaining nut it are shifted around the stationary head l l. Whenthe water is supplied through the line it, it-is of course free to flowon into the distribut ing line it where it may escape in the usualmanner through orifice cups 28 which are screwthreadedly carried inholes in the pipe. Since these cups have orifices iherethroughrestricted in diameter so as to define the proper size of water jet,the-water within the line it and therepressure is'comrnunicated to thecup leather l2 tending to force or spread the leather out against thecircumferential wall of the cylinder within which it'is carried in thestationary head M. The greater the pressure the tighter this leather isheld against the wall. By reasonof the leather thus being carried withinthe cylinder whereby it is subjected ;to pressure laterally forcing itagainst the cylinder wall, there is no leakage of water between theperiphery of the leather and the" cylinder wall. Furthermore since thereis considerableperipheral area of the leather in contact with thecylinder wall, the leather will last for a considerable length of timebefore it needs to be replaced. It is to be seen that as the head andretaining nut it are oscillated to shift the pipe linev ill, the leatherI2 is correspondingly oscillatedwithin its cylinder in the The sleevenut 23 is'merely employed to hold the leather place tightly against theend of the head M. It is thus to be seen that I have provided anexceedingly simple type of swivel connection without the necessity ofemploying compression type packing glands and that absolutely allleakage of the fluid being conducted through the joint is preventedwithout interfering with thefull freedom of relatively oscilletting theparts. Furthermore, by employing the head and flange constructionextending laterally beyond the line, side thrust, suchas would arisewhere a fire nozzle or the like may be substituted forthe line Ellistaken care of thereby, and

all metal to metal moving parts are outside of the stream flow wherethey are amply lubricated. While I have herein shown and described myinvention in the one best form as now known to me, it is obvious thatstructural changes may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention and I therefore do not desire to be limited to that preciseform beyond the limitations as may be imposed by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a pipe line swivel connection providing for rotation of one partof the line in relation to a relatively fixed part, a head on therotative part of the line, a head on the fixed part of the line injuxtaposition with the rotative head, a flange extending annularly fromthe fixed head and having a face of considerable area slidably abuttingthe rotative head in a plane normal to the axis of rotation of thathead, said fixed head having a counterbore at its flanged end, saidrotative head being recessed to receive said flange and providing aperipheral extension over the flange, and a retaining nut engaging therotative head by said extension to extend therefrom over and around saidflange to retain the flange in contact with said head and thenceextending with a sliding fit along said fixed head to provide a bearingfor radial thrusts, said flange extending radially from the fixed head adistance beyond the rotative and fixed heads stantial bearing againstend thrusts and bending strains, a cup leather packing in thecounterbore of the fixed head and a nut holding the packing against therotative head.

2. In a pipe line swivel connection providing for rotation of one partof the line in relation to a relatively fixed part, a head on therotative part of the line, a head on the fixed part of the line injuxtaposition with the rotativehead, a flange extending annularly fromthe fixed head and having a face of considerable area slidably abuttingthe rotative head in a plane normal to the axis of rotation of thathead, said rotative head being recessed to receive said flange andproviding a peripheral extension over the flange, and a retaining nutengaging the rotative head by said extension to extend therefrom overand around said flange to retain the flange in contact with said headand thence extending with a sliding fit along said fixed head to providea bearing for radial thrusts, said flange extending radially from thefixed head a distance beyond the rotative and fixed heads to provide asubstantial bearing against end thrusts and bending strains, said flangebeing provided with lubricating passages, and having a fittingdischarging into said passages whereby the passages may be filled with alubricant under pressure.

3. In a pipe line swivel connection providing for rotation of one partof the line in relation to a relatively fixed part, a head to be engagedby the rotative part of the line having an annularly projecting flangeproviding a radially disposed bearing face at right angles to the axisof rotation of the head, said face being set back within the flange toleave an outer overhanging peripheral flange edge, externallyscrew-threaded, a head to be engaged by the relatively fixed part of thepipe line, an annular flange extending from the fixed head to abut saidrotative head face within said overhanging edge, a retaining nuttelescoping over said edge and screw-threadedly engaging therewith, saidretaining nut having a face slidably engagingsaid fixed head flange, asleeve extending from the retaining nut slidably engagingcircumferentially about the fixed head, said fixed head having acounterbore in its end toward the rotative head, and cup leather packingheld in said counterboreabutting said rotative head face and having afeathered outwardly extending edge toward said rotative head.

' RAYMOND P. PARADISE.

to provide a sub-

